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Most popular baby names of the 1900s

In the 1900s, the most popular name for girls born in the U.S. was Mary, given to 161,504 girls, about 1 in 18 girls born that decade. For boys it was John, given to 84,590, about 1 in 16 boys.

Together, the top 20 girls’ names went to 30% of girls born in the 1900s, and the top 20 boys’ names to 44% of boys.

Top girls’ names

Top girls’ names of the 1900s
RankNameBabiesShare
#1Mary161,5041 in 18
#2Helen69,4281 in 42
#3Margaret57,9191 in 51
#4Anna54,9181 in 53
#5Ruth51,0101 in 57
#6Elizabeth41,7081 in 70
#7Dorothy39,1121 in 75
#8Marie37,0911 in 79
#9Florence36,1911 in 81
#10Mildred36,1731 in 81
#11Alice35,2321 in 83
#12Ethel34,8681 in 84
#13Lillian32,5191 in 90
#14Gladys30,2851 in 97
#15Edna29,8321 in 98
#16Frances28,4991 in 100
#17Rose28,1061 in 100
#18Annie27,7481 in 110
#19Grace26,9271 in 110
#20Bertha24,2471 in 120

Top boys’ names

Top boys’ names of the 1900s
RankNameBabiesShare
#1John84,5901 in 16
#2William69,3201 in 20
#3James62,1701 in 22
#4George43,5891 in 31
#5Charles36,1841 in 38
#6Robert35,8491 in 38
#7Joseph35,1731 in 39
#8Frank29,0461 in 47
#9Edward24,5161 in 55
#10Thomas21,7831 in 62
#11Henry21,7721 in 62
#12Walter19,9971 in 68
#13Harry17,9061 in 76
#14Willie17,7461 in 77
#15Arthur15,4091 in 88
#16Albert15,3181 in 89
#17Clarence13,5731 in 100
#18Fred13,0761 in 100
#19Harold12,7951 in 110
#20Paul12,6361 in 110

What changed

5 of the decade’s top 20 girls’ names were not in the top 20 of the 1890s: Dorothy, Mildred, Gladys, Frances and Rose. 2 of the decade’s top 20 boys’ names were not in the top 20 of the 1890s: Harold and Paul.

Each table ranks names by how many babies of that sex got the name across the decade’s years in Social Security’s data, with the share of all babies of that sex it went to. A name links to its own page when it has one, with its births and rank in every year since 1880.

Source: the U.S. Social Security Administration’s national baby name data, from Social Security card applications for babies born in the U.S. A name is left out of a year when fewer than 5 babies of one sex got it, and counts before about 1937 are incomplete, because many people born then never applied for a card. See how Baby Boom builds its data. Figures may contain errors.